Eilish McColgan said she felt the dope testing procedures in Kenya were inadequate and less strict than in the UK.
Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty

The owner of the training camp where British athletes train in Kenya says he has nothing to hide after a documentary alleged that the blood boosting drug EPO was found in bins on the premises – and says he wants to meet officials from the United Kingdom Anti-Doping Agency this week to answer their questions.

Two Ukad officials flew into Kenya last Thursday to begin an investigation into allegations by the Sunday Times and the German TV station ARD that at least four unnamed British athletes were given EPO in Kenya. The Guardian understands that Ukad knows the identity of the four athletes and will seek to establish whether there is a case against them.

But Pieter Langerhorst, the owner of the High Altitude Training Centre, where athletes from all over the world stay while in Iten, insisted he was a fervent opponent of doping and had done everything in his powers to ensure no drug taking took place on the premises.

“We have 16 cameras installed to monitor what is going on, and we must be the only training centre in the world that always tells the IAAF which athletes are staying here, and in which rooms, to allow them to test at short notice,” he told the Guardian.

“The ARD documentary alleged that packets of EPO were found in a bin on our premises. But from what I have read, EPO needs to be stored in a refrigerator and at the HATC there is just one communal fridge, which all the athletes use.”

Langerhorst said that his wife, Lornah Kiplagat, the well-respected former athlete, also regularly helped out the authorities in other ways. “The only time we allowed another fridge was last year, when Kyle Barber, the IAAF’s out-of-competition testing and intelligence coordinator, wanted to take blood from some athletes. We booked him into two rooms under my name so that no one would be aware he was coming.

“What more can I do? I am happy to sit down with the two Ukad investigators because I have nothing to hide. I would have also happily spoken to the Sunday Times and ARD, too. I have known [the journalist] Hajo Seppelt for a while but he never even made an attempt to contact me.”

During their investigation into Kenya, the Sunday Times and ARD also used hidden camera footage obtained by a reporter posing as an athlete, who was apparently being offered EPO by two doctors. In the footage, one of the doctors claimed to have supplied “more than 50” athletes including three Britons, based on his guarantee that he could dramatically improve their performances in “three months”. When approached on the record in the documentary, he retracted his comments.

The British middle distance runner Eilish McColgan said she was not surprised to hear further doping revelations coming out of Kenya – but says she has not witnessed any suspicious activity while on training camps in the country. “We’re secluded from it maybe, but it’s not a major surprise,” she said. “I don’t think Kenya is the only country at it. Ethiopia are probably similar because of the lack of testing.

“I’ve spoken out before about the testing procedures, that it’s not the same as in the UK. It’s nowhere near as strict. That definitely needs to change if they want to eradicate the problem.”

A statement from UK Athletics called the allegations “vague and unsubstantiated” and said that “none of the allegations as presented relating to British athletes accords with our experience”. The body added that “none of the doctors featured in the film are known by us, or have treated our athletes”.

However, Olivier Niggli, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said the reports showed that Kenya still had to do more to effectively address doping. “At the very least, this is an indication that the Kenyan government must quickly put the necessary human resources behind Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya in the interest of protecting clean sport,” he said.

Meanwhile the IAAF, athletics governing body, has rejected applications from 135 Russian athletes to compete in Rio – with only the long jumper Darya Klishina, who trains abroad, being allowed to compete at the Olympics under a neutral flag.

The decision was greeted with anger in Moscow, with Alexandra Brilliantova, the head of the legal department at the Russian Olympic Committee, confirming they would fighting the decision at the court of arbitration for sport. “The refusals were received by everyone, except for Klishina,” she said.

CAS is due to hear the cases on 19 July, with the verdict being announced before 21 July.